Why Wood Matters | Rules of Tone: Episode 1 | PRS Guitars

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pipelineaudio said:
What possible parameters could possibly contribute to the alleged sound differences between woods?

And again, instead of evidence, we get the Ad Hominem
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I’m not the one who produced a meaningless graph about wood hardness in a discussion about tone.

I already mentioned that density affects how a wave propagates.

C’mon think about it….

How much more obvious can it be.
 
Fart Ripper said:
I’m not the one who produced a meaningless graph about wood hardness in a discussion about tone.
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Hardness and tonality are not related? And yet next you write
Fart Ripper said:
I already mentioned that density affects how a wave propagates.
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That's just part of it. So I don't understand how the graph I showed could be meaningless
Fart Ripper said:
C’mon think about it….

How much more obvious can it be.
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How much more obvious can it be that you are saying to mutually contradictory things?

C'mon think about it
 
AI knows...


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other things in the signal chain for solid body electric guitars have a greater impact on the tone than the body wood.


and, all of those factors due to the body wood can be overcome with other gear, like and EQ or treble boost to make the tone brighter, or EQ to make the tone darker, fuller, warmer...etc.

but if your pickups are weak, lack clarity, lake dynamic range, etc., good luck fixing it
 
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rsm said:
I don't think anyone is arguing that wood doesn't matter at all for tone;

at least I'm not; I'm saying other things in the entire signal chain will have more impact on the tone of solid body electric guitar.
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My only point is that the Jim Lil materials don’t matter argument is a woefully inadequate grasp of the factors that influence the overall results of an instrument.

People should play what they like. Whether it’s made out of wood or not.
 
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rsm said:
I don't think anyone is arguing that wood doesn't matter at all for tone;

at least I'm not; I'm saying other things in the entire signal chain will have more impact on the tone of solid body electric guitar.
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Maybe, who's to say? I think strings and picks sometimes do more to your tone than a pickup swap. I've got a gorgeous tone dead HH Jazzmaster right here that no pickup has been able to really fix. IME sometimes the body itself is the most important thing.
 
pipelineaudio said:
Do you both believe that different species of wood have different sounds AND that tree rings are a thing?
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Tree rings as in? Old growth vs new growth is that what you are getting at? If that is what you are getting at, old growth stuff sounds better to me sometimes. For an example, I have a 1955 Les Paul Special. It has been played all it’s life, not a case queen. Buddy has a new Les Paul Special exactly like mine. Playing them acoustically there is no contest. Mine you can feel it resonate and has a full frequency range from bottom to top. His, no resonating and much thinner and brighter sounding. He liked his before, he seemed to not like it as much after.
Species of wood have different tones? They absolutely do. I have no doubt you will write a full book response on where is my proof etc…don’t care. I know what I like in a guitar to get the sounds I want and what works for me. If you can’t hear any difference, good for you, wish I was that way.
When I try out guitars, I never plug them in. Strum a few chords and I can tell if it going to be a good one or not (for me). What someone else thinks or likes, don’t care.
 
Fart Ripper said:
Janka Hardness is a measure of wood durability not density.
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Greazygeo said:
Tree rings as in? Old growth vs new growth is that what you are getting at?
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No, just that the same tree, not just the same species, but the exact same tree, even the exact same cut of wood can have wildly different hardnesses. These overlap with other species, so there is no way to attribute a tonal characteristic of a species with any specificity. You could pulp different species and perhaps be able to say that pulp of a species tends to average more x or y than the average of a pulp of another species, but that doesn't get you much, certainly not anywhere near the claims people make

Greazygeo said:
Species of wood have different tones? They absolutely do.
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Any evidence for this?
Greazygeo said:
don’t care.
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That's all that really matters
 
tallcoolone said:
What exactly?
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Assuming that by "ONLY the body" you mean like what Warmoth did, all the hardware, electronics, etc. were taken off the old body and put on the new, then a couple things that I remember from skimming sources come to mind. But, I need to do a deeper dive into the literature before I can give an exhaustive-ish nitty gritty list. For that I'm (re)reading chapter 7 of this book if you want to play along at home: https://gitec-forum-eng.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/poteg-7-neck-body-of-the-guitar.pdf

Anyhow, the high level first-impressions:
- Variances in neck pocket, angle, wood expansion due to moisture absorption, stuff like that related to how the neck mounts to the body.
- Differences in how the hardware was installed and/or setup, which can also be influenced by the above items. The bridge itself on a guitar is apparently a spot of non-trivial frequency loss, and the way it's configured makes some difference.

Out of question, what was it that made you discard the bodies as duds? Dead spots on the neck? Didn't like how it felt in your hands? The more details you provide, the quicker I might be able to find the relevant portions of literature.
 
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So all those flamed stripes and quilts and dye people pay thru the nose for do something besides make players spend wasteful amounts of money? That’s great news , I can’t wait to hear it so I can drop another used car allowance
 
It starts with the fingers as a great player proved to the world back in 78, all the tools in between those fingers being amplified make a contribution to what sound you are going for in the 1st place, get a yacht a prs and a divorce and you can say you gave something back during your existence lol
 
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